Oklahoma (Isaac Hanson)

Chapter Nineteen

At this point, all we have is Taylor and face vaule. Now we ask, does Isaac believe him or not?

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Two days had passed before Isaac finally made contact with Taylor, it was a phone call made by Zac. Isaac knew better than the drag his younger brother into this mess, Zac had been a kid at the time, but seeing as Taylor had admitted to telling Zac about Amy's indiscretions before he told Isaac then it was only fair. Making a phone call and inviting Taylor to Barney's, a small pub just outside of downtown Tulsa, Zac reported back to Isaac that they were to meet Taylor the following evening around six.

Conveniently Zac left out the part of Isaac joining them, when he talked with Taylor. If Taylor knew Isaac was going to be there, he'd probably still come along but would be in more of a defensive mode. This would go a lot smoother - or as smooth as it could - if Taylor assumed it was him and Zac meeting to discuss some mundane work related topic.

Isaac was in no rush to talk with Taylor, at this point he felt he had no choice. Laura had called him the morning that Isaac convinced Zac to make his call. The news Laura had left was that Ben and Evan had found nothing more than Grady and Laura had. It was coming up dead ends, leaving Taylor to be the only person with the truth of his and Amy's rendezvous. Empty handed, Laura had apologized to Isaac and wished him luck in finding the answers he was looking for.

At this point Isaac wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know the details of his little brother's sexcapades. If it wasn't the looming threat of Perrie possibly not being Isaac's then Isaac wouldn't even bother talking to Taylor. Eventually he would have to get over it, move on and speak to his brother, but not this soon. What Taylor had done was something nobody should ever forgive, not easily.

Taking a seat at a tall bar table, Isaac didn't want to forgive Taylor. Zac hung his jacket over the back of a tall chair, sliding into his seat, babbling on about something Kate was making him do, ignoring the look of hatred his oldest brother wore. Maybe, if he ignored it then it would go away?

Coming here, Zac had reminded Isaac to play nice. This was a public establishment, nobody needed to witness Isaac and Taylor having an argument like a couple of drunk frat boys. Knowing that before the night was out, Isaac would need more than his fair share to drink, Zac decided to play taxi. If Taylor ended up having more than he was supposed to then Zac had arranged for him to get a ride home as well. Everything was set, now all they needed was Taylor.

Wanting to give Isaac a bit of time to settle in, Zac suggested they arrive early. In truth, he wanted to be nosey. When he had recently asked Taylor about all of this, Taylor had stone walled him. Isaac on the other hand, he'd open up. Levelling the field, bringing himself up to date is how Zac looked at it. How could he help either brother if he didn't have details?

A young barmaid sauntered up to the two men, her black polo shirt displayed a name written in white lettering; Andrea, who Zac assumed must have been working her way through university, kindly asked the two what they wanted before disappearing to retrieve the beer Zac had asked for. What seemed like milliseconds later, Andrea returned with their drinks. Sliding them onto the table, she smiled and left them to their peace. Zac made a mental note to tip her well when he collected the tab later.

"Do you think he'll actually show?" Isaac broke the ice, taking a bottle of beer and tipping it to his lips.

"You know Tay, curiosity will get the better of him." Zac offered, picking up the other bottle and taking a drink. "How 'bout them Thunder?" Zac tried to pass small talk by asking about Isaac's favourite basketball team.

"We didn't come here to talk sports." Isaac chastised. "Ask what you want to ask, Zac."

"I just...it's not my business, but since you asked." Zac carefully picked his wording. "I don't have many of the details, but I don't think Tay did this to be malicious."